Why has the Government just paid my wife for getting pregnant?

My wife went for a check-up yesterday and was told that the Government has given her a cheque for £190 for getting pregnant.

Why, she asked the midwife? Well, she was told, every expectant mother at 25 weeks receives £190 from the Government to encourage them to eat healthily. It doesn’t come in the form of a voucher for a whole food store, or even a bundle of fresh fruit, just a blank cheque for £190 to every mother-to-be.

The Health in Pregnancy Grants were introduced last April and all a mother has to do to qualify is listen to health advice from a midwife.

The Government says the money is "to help you stay well and healthy and to meet extra costs during the later stages of your pregnancy".

I’m guessing the money comes straight after the abortion limit passes so that no one claims the cash and then gets their (taxpayer-funded) abortion afterwards. Because there aren’t any extra costs in the latter stages of pregnancy that don’t also occur in the first two trimesters – in fact, it gets cheaper as social life flatlines, so otherwise it makes no sense.

Yvette Cooper said of the grants when they were introduced that they will “help mums-to-be support their good health during pregnancy, as well as help give their child the best possible start. It’s the mums’ choice what they do with the cash as everyone’s circumstances are different."

So in other words, it’s a straight-out handout, with a lecture attached. The sort of pregnant woman who at the moment spends all her spare cash on family packs of Golden Wonders and microwaved pasties will just use the money to buy more. Those who already eat healthily are capable of managing without the Government’s help anyway.

The whole thing costs the taxpayer £150m a year in payouts, and that’s without accounting for administrative costs and the well-paid bureaucrats who will manage the scheme. I wonder how much they’re on? The one thing that links almost everyone in the chain, from those claiming the benefit to those administering it, is that they tend to vote Labour.

Why doesn’t the Government just give everyone a birthday present for, say, £200? Everyone, whether stinking rich or destitute, gets the money with a little note from the Prime Minister wishing them happy birthday and telling them to spend the money on healthy food or children’s clothes rather than, say, lager or fags.